Corporate Governance

Through Capital Concept, a company he founded in 2005, Akkaoui advises institutional investors, companies and regulators in the Middle East on corporate governance and was instrumental in the generation of a number of codes. He advises large institutional investors and corporates in the Middle East.

He is a member of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development‘s taskforce for Middle East and North Africa stock exchanges. He is the regional consultant for the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE).

From 2008 to 2012, he has been a board member of the Lebanese Transparency Association (LTA), Transparency International’s Lebanese chapter and through LTA, he has co-founded the Institute of Directors in 2010 which aims on promoting good governance in Lebanon. In 2014, Akkaoui served one term on the steering committee of the Middle East and North Africa Private Equity Association.

In 2006, Capital Concept was instrumental in the creation of Hawkama, the Dubai based institute of corporate governance for the Middle East and helped raise funds for its setup.

Civil Society

Akkaoui is actively involved in civil society in the Middle East. He has been a committee member of Human Rights Watch in the Middle East since 2010 and chair since August 2016. In April 2010, he was invited to Washington by US president Barack Obama, along with delegates from around the world invested in advancing entrepreneurship, to discuss the state of entrepreneurship in the Middle East and North Africa.

Since 2011, Akkaoui is the founding member of the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies (LCPS), the most respected think tank in the Middle East. Established in 1989, it operates as an independently managed, politically neutral, think tank initiating many advocacy initiatives for judicial reforms, transparent budget process, decentralization and local governance, and the enhancement of the function of business associations in policy making.

Media

As a publisher, Akkaoui has been representing the interests of Executive Magazine since 2001, a media platform he uses to advocate reforms in the Middle East. Executive, established in 1999, is dedicated to providing its readers with in-depth and forward-thinking analysis, solid reporting and punchy opinion on Middle Eastern business, economy and public policy.

In January 2015, he was elected board member of the Lebanese Order of the Press (press syndicate) where he served one term.

In May 2013, Akkaoui was elected board member of Lebanon’s chapter of the International Advertising Association for a two-year mandate.

In the same year, he was also selected to become Lebanon’s representative of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

Academia

Akkaoui teaches business ethics and entrepreneurship at the American University of Beirut (AUB) and chairs the advisory board of the Lebanese American University (LAU) business school.

 Art

Akkaoui was a strategic partner for the Beirut Art Fair during the years of its inception in 2010. The Beirut Art Fair, held annually, is an exhibition of contemporary art and design from the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia region.